Blast from the past
by NanouDane76
Summary: When Barney, Lee and the rest of the team are called in on a job, Lee is confronted with someone from his past. Will he be strong enough emotionally to save her? Wil she make it alive?
1. Chapter 1

Kate drove in silence. Every day was difficult but this was one was the hardest of the year. As she stopped at the traffic light, a single tear rolled down her face. She mechanically brushed it away and continued on her route when the light turned green. Another few miles and she stopped in front of a nice colonial style house and honked the horn. A pepper and salt haired man in his early sixties opened the door, briefcase in hand walked over to the car and opened the door, letting himself slide in gently in the passenger seat.

He leaned in and gave Kate a kiss on the cheek. "Good morning sweetheart".

"Morning daddy".

He looked at her a brief moment as she started to drive again. She was not her usual self. Not that she had been in the past 15 years but he realized today was different. His mind started searching. He wasn't even sure what day of the week it was, let alone what date it was. But eventually it dawned on him.

"It's his birthday today isn't it? No wonder you are down".

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's OK, I'll be fine and tomorrow will be a better day". She gave him a quick weak smile and returned her attention on the road.

Victor couldn't help but feel guilty. Even if Kate didn't know it, he was responsible for her grief. He had longed wished he had the courage to tell her but he knew he would lose her for good if he did.

Victor worked for a Government owned company specialized in research and development of new weapons. Kate worked for the Department of Defense and was temporarily assigned to the same office building as Victor, overlooking the different ongoing projects. Victor enjoyed very much the ride with his daughter to and from work and sometimes they managed to have lunch or dinner together. They had always been very close, but he knew that everything had changed those 15 odd years ago.

They were at an intersection only a few miles away from work. Kate stopped at the Stop sign and looked left and right. Traffic was coming from both sides but they were far enough for her to progress. As she was halfway through the intersection two black vans came from each side of the road. The one from the left stopped right in front of her car and the one from the right, just behind hers. She slammed on the breaks and started cursing her head off.

"You son of bitch! Can't you watch where you're going. Didn't you see the stop sign"?

The back doors of the van in front of her car opened and three armed men with masks jumped out and pointed their weapons on them. She quickly looked in her rearview mirror and realized that the same was happening from the van blocking them from behind. She instinctively locked the doors. She looked at her father, who was tetanized in his seat.

"Dad".

He didn't respond and only held on tighter to his briefcase and stared in fear at the men.

"Dad"! She yelled at him.

He turned his head and looked at her.

"Listen to me, they are either here for your or for me. Whatever happens, don't fight back. If they take me, I want you to contact an old friend of Lee's. His name is Barney Ross. He will be able to help you. Don't go to the cops, the FBI, the CIA. Follow every single instruction they give you and let Barney help. Do you understand"?

Victor looked at her and nodded.

One of the men tried to open the door on Victor's side while another was trying Kate's. Realizing it was locked, the man on Kate's side slammed the cross of his rifle in the window and it broke in pieces as Kate turned her head away instinctively. He leaned in and unlocked the doors and opened it. He grabbed Kate by the arm and pulled her out roughly. He pushed her towards another of the armed men and looked at Victor. He pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket and threw it at Victor.

"We'll be in touch. Until then, no cops, no FBI, no Government. Got it old man"?

Victor nodded in silence as he watched the men regroup and lead Kate to the back of the van. She was slightly bleeding in the face from the shattered window and they had handcuffed her hands. Before they put her in the back, they placed a black cloth over her head. They then lifted her in the back, closed the door and left.

Victor slowly got out of his trance and got out the car, went around it and sat down behind the wheel. He turned the car around and raced home.

Once he was home he checked that all his doors and windows were closed and went to his computer. He needed to find this Barney Ross and fast. He would have looked for Lee but he had no idea of his whereabouts. He typed in Barney Ross and found just an address. He wrote it down on a piece of paper, ran out the house and drove away in Kate's car. He didn't care that the window was broken, it was the least of his worries and if things turned out like he thought they would, and then he would have more pressing things to worry about.

The ride seemed like an eternity and he realized he was sweating heavily by the time he pulled in front of the building an hour later. The sign said Tools and it seemed like a mix of what some would call a garage/tattoo place.

He stepped out of the car, grabbed the handkerchief in his pant pocket and wiped his face. Arriving in front of the door, he knocked and waited a few minutes. Upon seeing no response, he slowly opened the door, peaked his head through the opening before letting himself in completely.

As he walked in the music was blaring "low rider" and he noticed different motorcycles and vehicles parked inside the hangar. He walked in further. He knew that calling out to anyone with the volume of the music was useless. Finally he arrived at an opening that enlarged the view of the hangar and he saw a man with his bare back turned towards him, getting a tattoo from another man.

Barney had been deep in his thoughts when he saw the man from the corner of his eye in the mirror. He held up his hand giving Tools the signal to stop what he was doing. Tools stopped and lifted his head in turn seeing the man looking at them in the mirror. Tools dropped his material and turned around.

"Can I help you"?

Victor shrugged. "It depends if I'm at the right spot".

Tools laughed. "Well if you're here for a tattoo, you're in the right spot".

Barney who had turned around on the motorcycle whispered to Tools. "I don't think he's the type to get a tattoo Tools".

Victor looked uneasily around the room. "Actually I'm looking for someone in particular".

"Alright. Then who are you looking for Brother"?

"I'm looking for Barney Ross. Is he here"?

Barney stood. This guy did not look very threatening. Usually Barney was careful when people came around asking for him.

He slowly walked up to Victor and held out his hand. "I'm Barney Ross. What can I do for you"?

Victor looked at Barney in disbelief as he shook back his hand. He couldn't believe the piece of the man that he was.

"My daughter had me sent for you, she said you could help".

Tools laughed. "Hey Barney what did you do to his daughter"?

Barney turned and looked at Tools. "Tools, come on will you cut it out. I think this is business related not pleasure".

He turned his attention back to Victor who was again starting to sweat.

"How does your daughter know me"?

"Well she didn't say but she said you were a friend of someone she knew years ago".

Barney nodded. "I see and who might this friend in common be"?

"Lee. Lee Christmas".

Barney staid serious. He turned and looked at Tools and gave him a nod. Tools left through one of the doors and reappeared just a minute later with Lee.

Barney turned to face Lee. "Hey Lee, I have a man here who says his daughter knew you".

"Oh yeah"? said Lee as he walked towards them, still unable to see Victor from where he was.

Victor shifted uneasily from one leg to the other. If there was one person he had not planned on running into there and then, it sure the hell was Lee.

Lee's eyes widened upon seeing Victor. Now there was a blast from the past and it was a rather painful one that he had tried to dig deep in the abyss.

Barney looked at Lee. "So you know this guy"?

"Yeah. Barney this is Victor Thompson, Kate's father".

Barney's look went a couple of times from Lee to Victor. Barney knew everything about Kate and he knew that this was probably not something Lee needed reminding.

"What can we do for you Victor"? asked Lee in a firm and quite unfriendly way.

"Kate said just before they took her to find Barney Ross so that he could help. That's why I'm here. I don't know what else to do or where to go from here".

Lee put a hand out to quiet Victor. "What do you mean, before they took her? Who took her and when".

Realizing this was indeed a serious matter, he showed the guys to the sofas at the far left of the room.

Once they sat down, Victor started over. We were on our way in to work when two vans blocked the car. Guys came out of both vans with masks and guns. Kate had already instinctively locked the doors and given me instructions. She didn't know if they were coming for her or for me. Then they broke her window, opened the door, pulled her out. They handcuffed her and covered her face and took off. But before they did, they gave me this cell phone and told me they would be in touch but that I should not contact any kind of authority".

Lee grabbed his head in his hands… He was not prepared for this. He had never forgiven Kate but he still didn't want anything bad happening to her.

"Mr. Thompson what is it that you do for a living? I mean Kate apparently wasn't surprised about this event".

Victor looked at Barney. "I work for a Government owned company. We specialize in developing new weaponry. Kate works for the Department of Defense and we usually are told that these are possibilities, you just never think that they will ever happen".

Barney nodded. "It's starting to make sense. They are probably interested in some kind of weapon that you have developed. We are going to have to talk about all the weapons you have been working on for the past year. They are obviously using Kate as leverage".

Barney looked at Tools. "Hey Tools man, round up the rest of the team will ya"?

Victor looked at Lee. "Lee, I know that you suffered but there is something you need to know about Kate".

Lee removed his hands from his face and looked at Victor.

Victor swallowed. This was the moment of truth. He had been a coward for too long, he owed it to Kate to come out in the open. "Kate did not leave you on her own initiative".

"What are you talking about? When I came back from my tour, she was gone, all her stuff was gone from the apartment".

"When you were on your last tour, I went to her one day and I told her that a friend of mine working at the Pentagon had advised me that you had been killed in action and that there was no body to bring back".

Lee listened as the words sank in. When he realized what Victor was saying, fury ran through his veins and he stood towering Victor.

"You bastard! How could you have done that? We were good together"!

Barney stood and held Lee back until Lee sat back down.

Victor shook inside. He deserved the outrage. "I grew up an army kid and I saw how hard it was on my mother and I to move around the world. I thought that Kate deserved better. I knew she would never leave you on her own, I figured it was the only way. I thought she would turn the page, move on but she has never moved on Lee. She has never been with anyone else since that day. To this day, she still grieves you in silence. I know I'm the one to blame for this and I pay it every day because the day I told her you died, a part of her died with you".

Lee was speechless. He was slowly starting to realize that all those years, not only had Victor put Kate through hell but she had never stopped loving her. In the end, he and she were not too different. He had been hurt by her decision to walk out on him without an explanation or contact details but he had never stopped loving her deep down inside.

Victor continued. "I hope that someday both of you will be able to forgive me".

"Wait a minute, she had you ask for Barney and not me. Why"?

"I never told her the truth".

He looked again at Lee. "Do you think they will hurt her"?

Barney looked at Victor. "We know from experience that they usually do harm physically the hostage, it's an extra leverage for them. Usually people do what they are requested to do if they see someone they love being hurt or tortured".

He then turned his attention to Lee. "Can she handle it"?

"She's tough Barney, but if what Victor says is right, she's emotionally weakened, it may work in their favor. She could break quicker than we expect".

Barney looked at him. "Lee, we are about to venture out on a highly physical and emotional road for you. Can you handle it"?

"I can handle it".

"Ok then. Mr. Thompson, we are your group of men".

Victor wiped his face again with his handkerchief. "Ok, so what do we do now"?

"We wait for them to call you. Until then we'll review everything together and also hook that mobile phone up so we can try to trace the call and record every conversation".

With that the hangar door opened and the rest of the team drove in. It was going to be a long day and night.


	2. Chapter 2

Somewhere miles away from there Kate was still in the van. No one spoke a word, but she stayed attentive, trying to find any indication of the road they were following. It could have been railroad tracks, familiar noises on the streets, tunnels. For some time she had been able to follow more or less where they were but inevitably the pace picked up and she got lost in the orientation. She had literally no idea where they were nor how long it had been since they had taken her.

At first she had tried to see if she could see through the mask they had placed over her head but it was no use. She couldn't see anything at all; the fabric was too thick to even let any light seep through it. That's when she remembered something that Lee had once told her that they did at boot camp and with the commandos. He had told her that in a scenario they were taken hostage and had their eyes were blindfolded and they were taught how to use their other senses to get information about their abductors and their whereabouts. That had been when Kate had closed her eyes and started to listen to everything that was happening around her. She also used her sense of smell and realized that someone in the back of the van was most probably a cigar smoker while another seemed to indulge in musk after shave.

She felt silly; she didn't really know how any of this could help her out. The only thing she wanted was to go home. She knew that she should have stayed at home that day. She could have cuddled up in bed or in the sofa while looking at old pictures of her and Lee and just reminiscing about the past. But no, she had been a professional and put her job ahead of her own needs and desires and this is where it had left her off. She only hoped that her father had found Barney. She had been surprised at how easily his name had come into her mind after all these years. Lee had mentioned Barney for the first time when he was about to leave for his first tour. He had told her that if she had needed anything to contact Barney. She had never needed to do it during his absence.

The van stopped and she heard the back door being opened. She could feel the weight of the van shift, indicating that some of the men were exiting it. Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her up and pushed her forward a gun pointed at her back. She didn't see the point of the gun, she was not only handcuffed but blind; what did they think she was going to do.

The minute she touched the ground she knew exactly where there were. The noises were known to her. They were at the airport and behind her she could hear the turbines turning from the reactors. Panic settled in as she realized that she was being led in the direction of the plane, they were flying her out but where? Out of the city, out of the State? Or even worse, out of the country? She swallowed uneasily as she was pushed up the stairs that led to the inside of the plane. She counted them. There were seven small steps. It must have been a medium sized private jet; this was definitely not a small or big plane.

She was sat down in a seat and heard a chain clonk at her feet. They grabbed her hands and from what she guessed where hooking up the handcuffs to the chain that was itself welded to the ground. They were taking no chances at her escaping. These guys were pros; that was for sure.

There was a lot of movement as she felt the air shift and move besides her as people or someone continuously went up and down the aisle.

The movement stopped and she picked up the musk smell right next to her. She felt someone grab her arm that she instinctively tried to pull back. The hold on her arm strengthened and she felt the sting. It burned as the liquid they injected her ran through her vein. Within seconds after they released their hold on her arm, she slowly started herself feel dizzy and weak. The drowsiness hit her hard and she knew that trying to fight it was completely useless. She closed her eyes and accepted her fate.

By the time the jet picked up speed on the runway and lifted into the air, Kate was in a medicated induced sleep, dreaming about the only thing that had meant everything to her… Lee!


	3. Chapter 3

Lee was sitting outside looking up at the stars in the sky. It had been hours and still no contact had been made to give Victor any instructions. He sat there for some time looking at the night sky. Little by little clouds were starting to cover the stars and he smelled rain in the air. Ironically, it reminded him the night he had met Kate.

Flashback:

It was rather late in the evening; he was out for the weekend and was heading to one of the bars to meet up with some of his friends. Halfway through his ride, he passed a young woman stopped on the side of the road desperately looking underneath the hood of her car. Initially, he would not have stopped but as he had passed her, the wind had blown her brown hair and he had amazingly been drawn to her. He stopped his motorcycle just a bit further and turned around.

He had stopped just behind her, removed his helmet and slowly walked over to her. She had lifted her head and he smiled noticing she had spots of grease here and there on her face. She looked at him first terrorized. It was true that it was not one of the best neighborhoods and she must have been nervous.

"Can I help you"?

She had stepped back slightly. "No I'm find thank you".

Lee had smiled mischievously. "Are you sure? You really look like you could use a hand".

"No really, I'm good. Thank you".

Realizing that she wasn't trusting him, he played his army card.

"Look , my name is Corporal Lee Christmas. I'm stationed here at Fort Eustis. I don't want you any harm. Really, I just want to help you.. You're not really stopped in one of the safest neighborhoods".

Kate had given a quick look at the surroundings than at Lee.

He had put his hand out to shake hers. She finally took it and shook it. "I'm Kate. Kate Thompson".

He let go of her hand slowly and smiled at her. "Alright then Kate, what do you reckon is the problem with your car"?

"You're asking me what I think is the problem"?

"Well yeah, from the state your face is in, I'd say you've given your car a pretty good look over".

She looked at him in a questionable way. "Oh no.. what's wrong with my face"?

He laughed. "Nothing's wrong with your face. It's perfect if you're into cars and mechanics".

She passed him and went to look at her face in the side mirror. Her eyes widened and she started to rub her face only making things worse. He thought that she was going to cry, but she simply had laughed it off and had returned to the front of the car with him.

"Ok.. to be fair Lee, I've got no idea what is wrong with this stupid car. There's gas in the tank, I have lights and indications on the front board so it's not the battery and I checked there is enough oil. I called the tow truck but they can't have anybody out here for another couple of hours. They said they'd call my cell fifteen minutes before getting here".

Lee looked up at the sky, it was dark and he could smell the summer rain from afar. "Can anybody come pick you up"?

She shook her head. "No. I just recently moved here and I don't know anybody in the area".

Like a forewarning, a couple of drops fell on them and then it started to pour and they were getting soaked.

Lee motioned to his motorcycle. "There's a dinner a couple of streets away from here. We could go have a cup of coffee and wait for the tow truck to call you from there. What do you say"?

Kate lifted her head up to the sky as the rain fell heavily on her face. She then looked at her car, then Lee, than his bike. "Ok".

She quickly went to grab her purse and keys from the car while Lee closed the hood. He then guided her to his bike and gave her his helmet. "What about you"? she had asked.

''Don't worry, I'll be just fine".

He straddled his bike and waited for her to do the same. She placed herself behind him and hooked her arms around his waist. He started the engine and they drove off in the rain headed for the dinner.

End of flashback.

He sighed thinking back at that day. It had been the start of their relationship, their amazing relationship. It had been the perfect relationship. She had been there every step of the way, even waiting for him and supporting him while he was on his tours. He had big plans for them but they had never gotten that far.

"It's gonna rain if you ask me".

He didn't have to look, he knew that it was Barney. He knew that Barney was watching his every move and every reaction ever since Victor had told them that Kate had been taken.

"It will be nice. It will cool the temperature down a bit".

Barney lit his cigar. "Lee, I've known you for years. Are you sure you are OK"?

"I'd be lying to you Barney if I told you I was. In just a couple of hours, I've learned that the woman I've ever truly loved not only didn't leave me because she didn't love me anymore but that she is being held hostage by a group of potential terrorists. I'm having a hard time coping with my feelings Barney. I want to break Victor's face and I want to kill the men who have her. I just keep praying that she is going to be all right and I'll have, we'll have a chance at making things right again".

"I understand Lee. We can do without you on this mission, it may be best if you sit this one out".

He looked at Barney with the same fury he had looked at Victor with previously. "Barney, I know you are trying to preserve me but I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here while you guys go and save her. That was my job. I was the one who promised her I'd always look out for her, I'd protect her. I'm a man of words; I'm going to keep that promise. We are going to bring her back".

Barney put his hand on Lee's shoulder. "We'll bring her back".

Gunnar came out to see them. "The mobile phone is ringing".

Barney and Lee quickly left their spots and entered the hangar. Toll Road was ready with the tracing and recording equipment. Barney looked at Victor and nodded at him telling him he could take the call.

Victor swallowed and took the call.

"Hello"?

"Hello Victor. I hope you are well since we saw each other last. I take it you have followed our instructions and have not contacted any authorities".

"Yes. I followed your instructions. Where is my daughter"?

"Kate is fine. You don't need to worry about her just yet. She is currently resting and is unharmed. At least for the time being".

"What does that mean"?

"Well Victor her well-being will highly depend on your willing to cooperate. In a couple of hours, the drug we gave her is going to stop working and she is going to wake up. Every hour that goes by that she is awake without getting what we want will impact her greatly. So you need to listen and listen very closely. You need to get us the SXT-76. We will call back in a couple of hours to see where you are in getting it. Remember Victor, time is key. Speak soon".

The line broke. Lee turned to Toll Road. "Did you get it"?

Toll shook his head no. "Too short and on top of that he's bouncing off multiple satellites. These guys aren't taking any chances, just in case Victor has gone to authorities. It was under 3 minutes Lee, there was nothing we could have done more".

"OK. Let's go over what he said. He knows your first name, so either he knows you personally or he's been researching on you. The same for Kate. What is the SXT-76"?

Victor sighed still holding the cell phone in his hand. "It's an energy weapon. Basically when this is activated, it stops the power surge for a radius of 100 miles. That means, no electricity, no planes, nothing that operates with some kind of electrical power, even cars. But it's not entirely finished and it's not 100% operational yet".

"I could see why this kind of weapon would be useful to some terrorist organizations. Talk about immobilizing a whole city and then being able to lead massive massacres", said Toll Road.

"Victor, I take it that this project is secret defense only certain people know that it exists correct"?

Victor nodded in agreement.

"Okay then, we need to get a full list of people who knew about this project and do some background search on them. How quickly can you get us a list of who was working on the project" asked Barney.

"I have that in the safe at home. Once I'm there it will be quick".

"OK. Lee and Yang will escort you and check the house as well for bugs and assure your safety".

He turned to Lee. "Lee what's wrong".

"I don't know, something is off. Toll, play the recording will ya"?

Toll played the button and they all listened quietly. "There! Go back just a little". Toll rewinded and started to play the recording again.

Lee closed his eyes. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7! Damn it"!

Victor looked at him. "What is it"?

"Where ever they are they're not in the US. There is a cathedral or a church bell in the background and it's either 7am or 7PM were they are. No wonder we didn't hear sooner, they were flying out of the country".

Barney nodded. "OK. Lee, you and Yang go with Victor to his house, during that time we will pinpoint the countries with those times. It will give us inevitably Europe and Asia but we need to get a clear understanding of what countries and cities we are looking at".

Yang and Lee took Victor into Barney's pickup truck and headed out to Victor's place.

No one spoke a word but they knew that the fact they had left the country was going to complicate things in locating them and getting to Kate quickly.


	4. Chapter 4

Lee stopped the pickup truck at the beginning of Victor's street and stepped out of the car with Yang.

"We'll let you drive alone from here, just in case they are keeping an eye on your house. We'll come from behind the house".

Victor nodded and slid into the driver seat. He continued down his street and stopped in front of his house. Not a living soul could be seen or heard in the street but the guys were right, that didn't mean that they didn't have someone on the lookout.

He walked up to the front door and opened it. He quickly went out back to open the door as Lee and Yang were already waiting.

Lee motioned to Victor to not speak as he and Yang took out their bug detectors. Within minutes the small house had been searched and no bugs had been found. It was a good sign.

"We're clear. You can go get the paperwork in your safe", said Lee to Victor. 

Victor nodded and went upstairs. Lee nodded to Yang giving him the signal to follow Victor. It wasn't that Lee didn't trust Victor but you could never be too sure.

In the meantime, Lee walked and had a look around. He came to what must have been Victor's office and his attention got caught by a picture frame on the desk. He walked over and sat down in the chair. He slowly took the frame in his hands and looked at it. He looked at Kate. She was still as beautiful as ever but you could tell that she had lost her glow, her happiness. He could tell that the weak smile she gave was a façade, just to save appearances. He hated seeing her like that, she who always had such a joy of living, who always laughed and smiled even in the toughest moments.

"Is that Kate"?

He looked over his shoulder to see Yang at standing behind him.

"Yes it is".

"I see why you fell in love with her. You can feel her beauty both outside and in from the picture. Even though her eyes are lifeless. A woman should never lose that twinkle in her eye".

Lee sighed. "I know. I hate seeing her like this. I can't believe Victor would do that to her. But I'm going to do everything I can to bring it back".

He placed the picture frame back on the desk and stood from the chair.

Victor was waiting for them in the kitchen.

Lee and Yang headed out the backdoor. "We'll meet you at the corner of the street. Whatever you do, do not stop to talk to anybody and hide the paperwork underneath your shirt".

Victor nodded. He didn't know if Lee was this cold with him because it was part of the job and he was trying to keep his emotions separated from it all or if he really just hated his guts. If it was the latter, he couldn't blame Lee; he was a monster and wondered how he had been able to look at himself in the mirror these past years.

He locked the door behind Lee and Yang and headed to his office. He opened one of the drawers and rummaged through some paperwork. When he found what he was looking for, he closed the drawer and headed out the front door and into the pickup. As planned he picked up Lee and Yang at the corner of the street, allowing Lee to get back behind the wheel and they drove of direction the headquarters.

Kate's eyes flickered a couple of times before she was able to open them slightly. She was nauseous and had a terrible headache. Her arms and legs were tied to a chair and as she finally looked around, realized she was in a semi-dark room with no windows. Aside from the chair she was sitting on, there was nothing else. It took a while for her eyes to see clearly. She closed her eyes again as she started to feel the room spin slightly. Maybe it was best if she just went back to sleep. Whatever they had injected her was wearing off but had not done so entirely.

"Hello Kate. How are you feeling"?

She opened her eyes and searched the room. Whoever was talking to her was in the room, the voice was distinct, not like a voice heard through a speaker. But she could see no one. There were enough dark spots in the room; she couldn't even make out a door anywhere.

"You know, I usually don't like it when I ask a question and don't get an answer. How are you feeling"?

Kate swallowed. She didn't want to speak to this man but from his tone of voice and comment, she felt it was best not to get on his bad side, not that it would change anything as to her outcome.

"I'm nauseous and have a terrible headache. What did you give me"?

"You don't need to worry about that, the remaining side effects should wear off shortly".

"What is it that you want"?

"Well, I wouldn't worry about what I want. I've already given my instructions to your father. What I would worry about if I were you is how long it is going to take for him to get me what I want".

"Why is that"?

"Well let's just say that the more time it takes him to bring me what I need, the more you are going to be praying for these side effects are the only physical pain you are feeling".

She lifted her head up and stared straight ahead, she didn't know if it was out of defiance or out of courage.

"Well you can forget about it. You'll never get what you are asking for. I'd rather die than to know that you have some sort of experimental weapon at your disposal to kill innocent people. My father will never cooperate with you".

"Oh trust me he will, whether you like it or not. Besides, killing you won't be of much help to me. I think we'll have no issues in finding ways to incite him to cooperate sooner than later. You seem brave now, but soon you'll be begging him to hand over what we want".

Kate swallowed. It didn't take a genius to know what he was talking about. She could handle pain, that she knew but to what extent? Could she handle hours of torture? How long would she resist? Even if her father didn't give them what they wanted and she ended up dying, nothing proved that they wouldn't go after her father or anybody else who had access to the weapons. It seemed almost a no-win situation. Unless.. Unless Barney Ross was everything Lee had ever set him out to be.

"Let's see now… You have a few more pleasurable hours left, so relax and enjoy them while you can".

She heard the sound of a heavy metallic door close and realized he must have left the room. There was nothing she could do but sit there and wait for her fate.

"How did it go"? asked Barney as they came back.

Lee walked over to the fridge and took out a bottle of beer and twisted the cap open. "Uneventful. Not a single bug found at his place and he's got what we need. How about here, have we progressed on their whereabouts"?

Barney nodded. "Yes, since we knew we were looking for either Asia or Europe, Toll Road has managed to use that information to continue his investigation for the trace. So far we have ruled out Asia and he's working on Europe. We should be able to have a better idea by morning and then when they call back, we need to try to keep them longer on the phone".

He turned to Victor. "That is going to be your job. You are going to have to try to have them on the phone at least three minutes. We need to find something that will throw him off balance and have him needing more than 3 minutes with you. Let's look at what you brought back. Maybe there is something useful in there and on top of that, I'd like to start investigations on who has been having access to this information".

Barney and Victor sat down together and started looking at the file of documents. Still with his beer in hand Lee walked to the back to find Gunnar.

"Gunnar, assuming that they flew 7-8 hours to Europe and you'd want someone to sleep the entire time, how much time do you think we have left before Kate wakes up"?

Gunnar thought for a moment. "Considering they probably drugged her on the plane and that they wanted to make sure that they had enough time to transport her to the final destination point, they must have used something pretty strong. How much would you say Kate weighs"?

Lee shrugged. "I don't know, when we were together, I would say she was around the 120 lbs. I saw a recent picture of her at Victor's; I think she is still in that range".

Gunnar closed his eyes and you could tell he was starting to calculate as he moved his lips in silence. He then opened his eyes and looked at his watch and shook his head.

"I'm sorry to tell you this Lee but I think that time has come and gone".

Lee's eyes opened in shock. "What? Are you saying she's most probably awake already"?

Gunnar nodded. "If not already awake, it's only a question of an hour or two at the most".

Lee threw his beer bottle out on the street and went back inside.

"Barney, we've got to act fast. Gunnar says that we have at the most 2 hours before Kate wakes up if she's not awake already".

Seconds later, Victor's cell phone started ringing. Toll Road gave him the thumbs up and Victor answered.

"Hello"?

"Hello Victor. I hope you have what I'm waiting for? Kate sends you her greetings. I'd pass her to you but I don't think she would be very convincing at this time. On the contrary, she would probably dissuade you to cooperate and we can't have that happening now can we? So Victor, where is the SXT-76"?

Victor was shaking. "I..I… don't have it yet. I need to wait until later on to go into headquarters and get it. No one can access the building during the night".

The man on the other end of the line sighed.. "Not good. Not good at all Victor. I thought I had made myself clear on the importance of time. Kate is really not going to like this at all".

"Please, please don't hurt her. There is something you need to know about the SXT-76".

"What"?

"It's not finished. The prototype is not finished".

"Not my problem. Finish it and if I was you, the quicker the better. By the way, you can expect a delivery in your mailbox in the next couple of hours. It should be quite entertaining".

With that he hung up. Both Lee and Victor were in a decomposed state. The countdown had started and at that moment in time, there was nothing either one of them could do to help Kate.

If one thing the man had said on the phone was right, was that time was key and at that moment it was their worst enemy!


End file.
